A Day's Worth of Ink
by havenward
Summary: Shigure decides to start keeping a diary, and this is the first day. This is in response to a challange Ariana Deralte sent to me a while ago.


Disclaimer: As much as I love cats, I don't own anything in this story. I no own :: You no sue.  
  
(Author's Note: -- signifies a journal entry. Italics are thoughts. Also, I randomly chose a date in the spring which holds no bearing on the actual story line…)

* * *

--Saturday, 16 May, 1:30 pm  
  
Have decided to start keeping journal. Stole idea from Tohru, as it promises to annoy a certain publisher. But then again, may use it someday to publish memoirs, hehehehe…  
  
Hm, how to start things off…  
  
This morning was nicer than usual. That is, quieter. The cat and mouse didn't start their usual bickering until after breakfast. (And such a delicious breakfast it was!) Kyo seems to be taking some of my advice, because the two managed to actually make a picnic lunch for Tohru-kun without destroying the kitchen. I just hope its edible…  
  
In any case, when the three of them left an hour and a half ago they were all smiling. Really, truly smiling. The only thing that worries me is that Aya gave them advice yesterday concerning our angel, and I can only hope he only reccommended taking her on a picnic.  
  
I'd hate to have to report to Akito-san.  
--  
  
Shigure looked up from his writing. _Was that the door?_ He glanced at the clock and frowned. Tori-san and the others would not be here this early, even if they had promised to help make dinner as well as stay to eat it. The happy trio would not have returned yet - they should only just be arriving to their destination. Of course, they would not have knocked anyway.  
  
Setting the journal aside, he rose and answered the door.  
  
"Sensei!" It was Mit-chan. He almost closed the door again, just for the look he knew would be on her face. But her expression was so absolutely cheerfull, he decided to take pity on her.  
  
For the moment.  
  
"Good afternoon! Has the deadline come already?" he asked cheerfully, his face a mask of innocence.  
  
"In a week, sensei. I just stopped by to remind you to finish the manuscript." The woman was getting clever to his ruse. If she came earlier, she could force him to work on it earlier. And then she may actually have a manuscript turned in on time.  
  
_ Should I mention that it, and the one after it, are already done?_ he thought to himself. _No._ "Oh, good," he said aloud, his expression unchanged. "I'll have time then. You see, I haven't really started yet…"  
  
For a moment nothing about the woman changed. She still stood just outside the door, as though about to leave again, a smile frozen on her face. Shigure took that moment to disappear inside the house. Mit-chan, of course, followed.  
  
_ Hm,_ he thought as she yelled at him about the manuscript and generally threatened his life, _how should I write about this? A beautiful young woman chased me around the house? A beautiful woman hunted me down in my own house? I know! Mit-chan and I played a pleasant game of tag…  
_  
Before he knew it, however, he found himself in his study, staring at a blank piece of paper and striking a creative pose with his glasses on and one hand poised thoughtfully near his chin. Mit-chan stood on the other side of the desk, her knuckles turning white from clenching her hands so hard. He shifted positions again, posing to look like he was thinking particularly hard.  
  
"Mit-chan…" He put on his best pout, and made his voice as child-like as possible. "I don't think this is working…"  
  
"What. Do. You. Mean."  
  
"Well…" He had been about to say that he couldn't write with someone watching him with the hope that she'd turn her back or leave the room so that he could escape via the window. Another game of tag sounded fun, but she looked as though she was about to cry, kill him, or both. That, and he'd used the trick before. "This is a bad setting. It's not creative enough. I need something to help me get in the mood to write."  
  
"…"  
  
"And I'm very hungry. Tohru-kun and the other two have gone away for lunch, so I'm left with nothing to eat."  
  
A quick drive, a couple stops, and an hour later, Shigure was in his study again. Although he feigned creativity once more, this time was a little different. Instead of staring at a blank white paper, he was scribbling on pink paper from an over-sized notebook with a sparkling pink cover and a chibi-puppy on the front. Instead of his normal, rather professional looking pen, he now wrote with a pink pen with white puppies all over it, and a pink ball of fur on the end like some kind of poodle's tail. He even had matching puppy slippers, which peeked over the edge of the desk as he tipped back in his chair.  
  
After all, he didn't want Mit-chan to see that he was actually writing in his journal. Or, for that matter, that he was only scribbling in the pink notebook as well as sketching little pictures of her chasing a dog on the corners of the pages.  
  
He'd already caught up on writing, so far as the journal was concerned. He was amused by the fact that Mit-chan seemed set at ease by the mere appearance of his working on the manuscript. She sat near the door to keep him from leaving, but made no attempt to look at what, exactly, he was doing.  
  
Time passed on, and slowly Shigure filled up the pink notebook. But what was he going to do when he finished it? He couldn't exactly just give it to her. That wouldn't be any fun.  
  
--4:00 pm  
  
If I don't come up with something soon, then my angel will return! With her great kindness of heart, she'll find a way to politely ask me to be nice to Mit-chan. I won't be able to refuse!  
  
Eh? What's that… a car pulling up the drive! Tori-san is here to save me!  
--  
  
It was all Shigure could do to stay in his seat until the car actually pulled up in front of the house. However, the moment he heard the engine turned off, he casually glanced out the window as though he didn't know anything was there. _I didn't think that many people could fit into Hotori's car…_ Snapping the pink notebook closed, the dog leapt to his feet, one finger in the air as though making an important announcement.  
  
"My family has arrived!"  
  
"SENSEI…!"  
  
He caught the hint, of course, but the game was back on track. Instantly putting his over-serious expression into place, he snatched the pen off of the desk. "Right!" With that, the man returned to his original position, threw his feet onto the desk, and completely ignored the doorbell. He was just putting the final touches on the last sketch of Mit-chan, in which she was having a complete breakdown because she could not catch the dog, when the door to his study slid open.  
  
"Shigure…" It was Aya and Tori-san in the doorway, of course, ready to question his apparent lack in civility. Both blinked, taking in the scene. Ayame's eyes were glued to the slippers, his expression the picture of disparagement.  
  
"What?" Shigure asked as though this were entirely normal. "You told me I needed to wear more color…"  
  
Ayame shook his head, and Hotori smacked his forehead.  
  
--  
I think Aya is jealous of my pink puppy slippers…  
--  
  
"Sensei!" The woman was getting near tears again.  
  
"Right!" The dog smiled apologetically at his cousins. "I'll be out soon… Tell the others hello for me." The two nodded, shutting the door behind them. He scribbled for a little longer, making sure to look as though he was trying extra hard. Then, of a sudden, he rose and spoke with an air of importance. "I am finished!"  
  
Mit-chan seemed downright ecstatic. It almost made him feel guilty.  
  
Almost.  
  
He slid the journal to someplace she would not see it. Not that this was very difficult; her eyes were glued to the pink notebook. He could even move it slowly around, and her eyes would follow it. Of course, when she reached for it, he retracted the manuscript.  
  
"You said you were done, didn't you?"  
  
Ah the edge of hysteria was back. "Yes, but…"  
  
"But WHAT?" Her anger flared up again, and her shoulders were nearly shaking with rage.  
  
Shigure smiled that sweet smile of his. "I have to retype it. See?" He flipped through the pages for her, doing it at just the right pace for his little cartoon in the corner to work and for his scribbling to look like entirely unintelligible writing.  
  
For a moment, the poor thing stared at it, her angry features frozen in place. Then she began to cry. She was not quite sobbing yet, but every now and again a whiny murmur escaped her lips as the tears rolled steadily down her cheeks.  
  
"Now, now," the dog added, patting her shoulder comfortingly, "I should have it typed by next week…"  
  
The floodgates opened. He guided her out the door of his study, closing it behind her as she loudly bemoaned her career all the way through the house and out to the car.  
  
The man sighed happily and returned to his desk. There were guests that needed a host, true, but they were family and could wait the few moments it would take him to relate the event in his journal. Propping his feet up on the desk, he made himself comfortable.  
  
--  
Am too mean to Mit-chan, I really am. But she is so funny when she cries! Pity Tohru-kun likes her… Ah well, until that angel says anything…  
--  
  
From the corner of his eye, he saw an orange blur speed passed the window. He considered this for a moment, because of how silent the blur was. But then he caught the echo of a screamed name and all became clear.  
  
--  
The family is here (well, some of them at least) as Tohru was as sweet as always and invited them all to dinner. Momiji, Hatsuharu, Kisa… She neglected to mention that she had also invited Kagura, probably to keep Kyo from running away. Yet it seems the young boar has had no problem whatsoever finding him.  
--  
  
There was a rush of anxious footsteps through the house, as well as a couple of hasty hellos, as the cat sought a hiding place. Doors slid opened and shut as he realized that she would look in every one of those places. Finally, the door to the dog's own study slid open.  
  
Kyo stopped, his orange eyes blinking. His hair was hanging into his eyes, but this did nothing to hide his surprise.  
  
--  
Kyo needs a hair cut. And I think he's jealous of my pink puppy slippers too.  
--  
  
Without comment, Kyo slid the door shut again. Another moment passed before he could be heard rummaging once more for a hiding spot.  
  
--  
You'd think, being a cat, he could be a little quieter about things. She must be very close behind him to make him this rushed…  
--  
  
At the last, Kyo seemed to choose the roof. Or at least, it sounded that way to Shigure. The dumb cat was even intelligent enough about it to choose the back side of the house, where Kagura was less likely to see him on her way in. Obviously he hadn't thought she might look there first.  
  
"KYO!!"  
  
The dog heard the poor boy yelp, apparently jumping in surprise, and then scramble to keep his hold. Even as the dog stood to join his family, he could hear the younger man crash into the ground. By the time Shigure actually stood among the other visiting Juunishi, the sounds of Kagura's affection could be heard.  
  
"Oh Kyo, are you alright? Are you hurt?" Then, like a light switch… "Why did you run away from me? You didn't even say hello!!" There was a series of rather painful sounding crashes and thumps, no doubt caused by the boar misjudging her strength yet again.  
  
"Let go of me woman!" Kyo had somehow managed to make it into the house without setting off Kagura's temper again. Instead she was fussing over the bruises she had so recently inflicted.  
  
It made Shigure smile to watch them. This was how things should be, really. What would a dinner be without Kagura permanently attached to the cat's arm? Or Kyo trying to fight Haru at the same time? Come to think of it, the only thing to make it perfect would be Kyo caught between arguing with Yuki and fighting the cow.  
  
_ Speaking of Yuki…_  
  
Shigure greeted Kisa, Momijii and Haru, who also appeared to be jealous of his now infamous slippers, before moving out to the porch. If Kagura had chased the red-haired boy all the way back to the house, then the other two could not be very far behind. Tohru, the beautiful angel that she was, would be ever mindful of the time and her hungry guests. _What a heavenly dinner it will be!  
_  
A little ways down the path, through the trees, he could see Yuki and Tohru walking. Side by side, the sheer joy of each other's company glowed in their faces. Her cheeks were tinged with a touch of pink, making her rose-colored peasant shirt look that much cuter, and her eyes closed with a smile, a gentle laugh…  
  
… A mistake, that. She tripped, perhaps on a stray branch or a dip in the road, and down she went. But Yuki, ever the Prince, caught her arm before she could so much as scruff a knee. As he helped her up, he was behind her for a moment. The briefest of moments… Both his hands were on her shoulders, his head beside hers, and he said something…  
  
The moment passed, and the pair was walking onward once more. But Tohru-kun's smile was a little bigger, and Yuki's was a little truer. Shigure didn't need to hear what it was the boy had said to understand. This was the closest they could come to an embrace.  
  
"Hmph."  
  
Shigure turned. He had had only the vaguest notion that he was no longer alone on the porch, so finding Kyo beside him came as a bit of a surprise. Or rather, seeing him retreating into the house did. _He's jealous, even if he won't admit it. I'll have to say his skin tone turned green when I write my next entry…  
_  
Before much of anything else happened, however, two small forms rushed out of the house, crashing by Kyo, and launched themselves at the girl approaching that very edifice. Both hurtled into her with a peel of laughter, even though only one of them could help her up again. All that was left of the boy was a cloud of smoke and an adorable bunny sitting in a pile of clothes.  
  
"Momijii! Kisa!" Tohru hugged them both for a moment before she was dragged back inside…  
  
It was a long, long time before Shigure could sit down with his journal again.  
  
--10:00pm  
  
Amazingly enough, dinner, both in construction and demolition, passed without incident. Momijii was as bubbly as ever, updating Tohru-kun on how the younger Juunishi were doing. Kisa helped Tohru do just about everything, and was never very far from her onechan. Kagura managed to cling to Kyo without destroying the house. Haru unabashedly flirted with Yuki, and somehow even remained in his "white" personality. Ayame and Hatori even convinced me to give up my pink puppy slippers. But I have given them to Tohru-kun, so I know they are in a good home! She thought they were so cute. Even Kyo's jealousy was appeased. As Tohru sat between him and Yuki, her arms curled around theirs, she laid her head on his shoulder.  
  
As much as there are things I would change if I could… Tonight, and others like it when joy is so prevalent, makes it all worth it…   
-- 

The End. Please Respond.


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